24. Gowraram to Canberra

With the touch of history and evolution of Public Relations, this book - Gowraram to Canberra tells the journey of Dr. C.V. Narasimha Reddi’s career. The book is divided in two parts: Part A and Part B. In part A, author tells us about his life and career. In part B, it explains the evolution of Indian Public Relations including ancient India and modern India.

The book starts with the Hyderabad Liberation Movement, with the line that in 1948 where the country India was free but a small village called Shali Gowraram in Nalgonda district of Telangana had seen a turmoil for several years, but was yet to wake up to its new found status. The struggle of communist led to the Hyderabad Liberation Movement which continued even after Independence. At that time there was no communication between the leaders and the youngsters who were inducted into the movement and worked as per the instructions of the leaders.

His parents were semi-literate and drew sustenance from the agriculture through which they supported the family. Narasimha had five sisters and four brothers. He quit his school in 1947 under the inspiration of his mother’s uncle Ravi Narayan Reddy and joined Hyderabad Liberation Movement. Walking through a journey of hoisting the national flag, communist ideology, fight against corruption, he struggled a lot and finally the sun rose in his life as he got a gift from chief editor for doing his duty honestly. Narsimha applied for the post of Public Relations Officer (PRO). He was entrusted with the responsibility of launching a campaign to educate people on the institution of the Panchayti Raj and the process of decentralization.

The Part B starts with the evolution of Public Relations in the World’s largest democracy. Here he says that India is the birth place of Public Relations. He talks about the Indian PR models that are the state of propaganda, the era of publicity, Gandhian Era of Public Communication, the age of PR, Indian PR with Global perspective. Then he talks about the PR strategy and Tactics. Different media of communication are explained in the book. Interestingly, he also mentions the Dos and Don’ts in PR professional skills.

So, basically this book focuses on the services rendered by Dr. C.V. Narsimha Reddi to the growth and expansion of Public Relations communication in India. His life is an inspiration for building PR professionals as to how one starting at the grassroots level can reach the pinnacle of success through the magic wand of dedication, hard work and commitment.